It seems like every year in the spring I come out of hibernation and go on a whirlwind tour of seeing all of my friends. This year was no exception: Dallas, Napa, Carmel, Healdsburg, Santa Rosa, happy hours, and Valkyries Game with school. Once again, I think I might have overdone it. Will I do it again next year… probably.
 |
| Kris Kar #5 in Dallas |
 |
| A Santa Rosa Run-In |
 |
| Happy Hour with the OG |
 |
| Carmel Valley with the SLO Girls |
 |
| Healdsburg with my First Mom Friends |
It is easy to get caught up in the daily grind. It is easy to miss the little moments of life that spark joy. It is easy to forget to be thankful each and every day (even if those days include lice, chaos at work and the aches and pains of getting older). But after an amazing Spring Break with the family and a proper break from the routine, I am starting to find the beauty and delightful surprises in my everyday life. Below are a few of those moments:
After two weeks in a cramped camper van, the kids missed each other too much back at home sleeping in their separate bedrooms. After a few nights, the kids decided to turn Oskar’s loft bed into a bunk bed and they now sleep in the same room and we now have a play room. I am very curious to see how long this lasts but they generally seem happier together. Here I was thinking that they would want more space as they got older.
With the newly installed “banana phone” (our wifi enabled “landline”) we are teaching the kids about the olden day phone calls to people’s houses. This also means we are teaching the kids about prank phone calls. It started one night while trying to get Oskar’s mind off of his bad growing pains/cramps and talking about Martin’s bad dad jokes. The only thing I could come up with was explaining the “is your refrigerator running” prank phone call joke. And thus began the conversation about prank phone calls. The kids subsequently placed prank phone calls to my parents, sister and brother giggling with each joke: including “is there a John at home” and “are there any Walls in the house”
On May 5, Martin and I were able to sneak away for a date night. Fifteen years ago on May 5th we found out our offer was accepted for our home in North Beach. It is amazing to think we have already been here 15 years. Aside from my childhood home, no other home, apartment or place of residence has come close to this length of time. We celebrated the milestone this year the same way we did back then: with dinner at a Greek restaurant. And while we aren’t moving any time soon (we will never sell), I am thinking it is finally time to update the decor and swap out some of the artwork and fixtures that have been on the walls since we completed renovations.
And finally, a little over a year ago I found out my dad had leukemia. And what followed was an intense period of doctors visits and treatment for him and a lot of research on my end. Fast forward to today and he is doing well; and the gut wrenching reality check gave me a good reminder to not take anything for granted. This photo of him recently taken at Pismo Beach with his new surfboard makes me so incredibly happy.
